Oil Painting Techniques, Tips & Tricks

If you’re the kind of person that likes to learn in person from a real expert then perhaps classes are for you. And luckily there are classes all over the world that you can enroll in and pick up some serious skills!

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Looking For Oil Painting Classes Online?

Would you rather learn online from the comfort of your home? There’s also a tonne of great resources online too for learning the art of oil painting and we recommend starting with these online oil painting lessons as well as checking out these oil painting video guides.

Oil is a fantastic medium for painting portraits and because of it’s slow drying time oil makes it easy to blending colors with one another allowing you to paint incredible shadows just as they appear on the face of the subject.

And to help you to pick up the art of painting portraits in oil you’ll find a comprehensive and extremely easy to follow portrait oil painting tutorial below with a bunch of tips and tricks along the way that’ll have you painting stunning portraits in no time!

Choosing A Photograph

The very first thing that you’ll need to do is to select a photo to paint from. Whilst painting a live subject can work well it’s much more difficult than by using a photo. Photos have the advantages of not moving or changing positions and they don’t need any breaks like a live subjects do!

So choose a photo of your subject that has good lighting and that captures a facial expression that you want to paint.

Painting A Thin Layer

Start your portrait oil painting by using a medium to large brush to paint a thin layer of paint over the canvas that covers the whole picture plane. To thin out your paint a bit you can also mix it with turpentine or some other type of paint thinner.

For now ignore shadows and highlights for now and just paint the base colors of your subject. As you are doing this continuously compare what you have on the canvas to the colors that you see in the photo and adjust accordingly.

Building Up Your Layers

Once your thin layer is finished start to build up your layers more. And if you’re canvas becomes to wet to build up any more layers then leave it overnight to dry.

Adding Details

Once you’re layers are nice and built up start adding details to the painting using smaller sized paint brushes. For areas that require blending such as highlights and shadows dry brushes work particularly well. Also note that for shadows on flesh shades of brown work better than black or grey.

If you’re having trouble getting the features of the face to line up correctly then you can also map out the facial features using mapping lines which are lines that are drawn over the face both horizontally and vertically so that you can easily arrange the features to be symmetrical and look correct.

If you’re still having trouble to get the features symmetrical even after using mapping lines then turning the painting upside down is another good way to get everything in the right spot.

Get A Fresh Perspective

When you’re close to being done leave the painting out of sight somewhere to rest for a few days. When you come back you’ll have a totally fresh perspective on the painting and will usually be able to easily see where and how you can improve the painting.

Portrait Oil Painting Techniques Video

For more useful tips and tricks for successfully creating beautiful portaits using oil paints check out the video below.

Thanks to the internet it’s not easier to quickly and easily find a whole range of oil painting video tutorials that walk you through every type of technique that you could possibly need to produce amazing oil paintings.

There’s oil painting videos out there for everyone from the complete novice that is just starting out on their oil painting journey to the already expert painter that’s just looking to refine specific areas of their technique.

Below we’ve compiled a collection of some of the great oil painting videos from around the web for you to watch and enjoy and hopefully learn something from. These videos have all been produced by extremely talented and knowledgeable artists that really know what they are talking about… so pay close attention!

Michael Thompson Oil Painting Lesson

Michael Thompson is an incredibly talented artist who produces some amazing oil paintings and in this four part YouTube video series he walks you right through the process of creating an amazing landscape watercolor painting from start to finish.

Following along with him in this lesson is a great way to improve on your oil painting skills as well as learn a lot more about colors and styles as he drops a tonne of knowledge along the way.

Here’s an oil painting video that’s designed for more intermediate to expert oil painters that walks you through the process of painting a beautiful Autumn barn. It’s an extremely comprehensive fifty minute long video that’s hosted by professional artist Wilson Bickford who has been painting for a great number of years and has a tonne of experience.

He talks you through every step along the way and shows you how you too can paint your own incredible Autumn barn scene!

Seascape Oil Painting Video

For those that are interested in learning how to paint seascapes in oil this is the perfect video to check out. It’s created by an amazing artist named Jason Bowen and goes for just under thirty minutes. Follow along with this video and by the end of it you’ll have painted one of the most beautiful seascapes that you’ve ever seen!

The Video Guide to Layered Glazing

This video is perfect for anyone that’s interested in learning more about painting self portraits as well as sing layered glazing techniques. In this short video Scottish artist Scott Naismith shows you how he creates an incredible self portrait in an extremely short period of time using layered glazing.

Painting Flowers Tutorial

For all those out there that are interested in learning to paint flowers this is a great video to watch. It’s a short but useful video tutorial in which American artist Hall Groat II walks you through the process of painting lilies. He goes over a variety of topics including forms and shadows, background variation and more.

Well there are a tonne of incredible lessons both free and paid that are available to anyone that’s interested in learning more about how to paint in oils.

Below we’ll go over some of the very best places online to find oil painting lessons that will have you paint like a pro in no time at all!

YouTube: There are a truckload of excellent and totally free oil painting video lessons on YouTube for artists of every skill level. These oil painting videos are produced by extremely talented oil painters and do a great job at walking you through the exact process that is involved in producing all sorts of oil paintings whether it be a landscape, portait or something else altogether.

We highly recommend starting out with the lessons found on YouTube particularly if you’re new to the world of oil painting!

Andre Grobler Lessons: This guy who has created these lessons is a worldwide acclaimed professional artist, art teacher and mentor and has been for over forty three years. In his career he has produced over a staggering 20,000 paintings and is truly the “go to” guy for oil painting lessons.

At AndreGrobler.co.za you can buy some of his best video lessons that reveal some of the oil painting techniques and secrets that he uses to create stunning pieces. He goes over everything from brush techniques to color mixing to canvas preparation and everything in between.

If you are looking for comprehensive lessons on every type of oil paintint style out there then Andre really is the guy to check out.

An Intro to Oil Painting: If you’re totally new to oil painting and have no idea where to start then this might be a good place for you. It’s a series of twenty seven free mini lessons that walk you through everything that you’ll need to know and learn to create your very first oil painting.

These mini lessons cover topics such as creating mood, using color, basic composition and a variety of other techniques that will help you to produce amazing oil paintings in no time at all.

1Art Painting Guide: This guide has been written up by the 1Art Academy and provides some good insight for new oil painters as to how they can get started. It covers both technical strategies to paint in oil but also offers some wisdom as to how you can motivate yourself to paint your first oil painting by using strategies such as painting with music on in the background and not getting caught up on perfectionism.

They also offer a range of extremely affordable online lessons for those that are looking for something a little bit more comprehensive that cover not just oil painting but a wide variety of art techniques.

Before you can start creating your first oil painting masterpiece there’s some important supplies that you’re going to need. Oil painting beginners may find it somewhat overwhelming with all of the different products and options that are out there but never fear because we’ve created this simple check list of oil painting supplies that you’ll need to get your hands on to get started!

Things You NEED To Have…

Brushes: Naturally one of the first things you’ll need to get is some paint brushes. Now whilst it may be tempting to rush out and buy a paint brush of every shape and size it’s really not necessary.

You’ll soon find yourself gravitating towards a certain type of brush and a good way to start out is to simply buy two different sized filber brushes with stiff hairs. Filbert brushes are extremely versatile and allows for a broad range of stroke types.

Colors: Once again whilst it may be tempting to buy out every color in the store a much better option for those that are new to oil painting is to buy just a few of the essential colors and become fluent in painting with them.

Palette: Another crucial item that you’ll need is of course a paint palette for you to squeeze your paint onto. It will also give you a space to mix your colors together.

Palettes come in a variety of styles and can be made from many different materials and it really just comes down to personal preference as to what type of palette you should use. For example some painters prefer a palette they can hold in their hand whilst other prefer one that can be laid down on a table.

Palette Knife: Getting yourself a palette knife is great for mixing up colors without mucking up your brush with a whole bunch of colors and makes it easier to mix colors together. It also wastes a lot less paint then mixing your colors with a brush.

Oil paintings are often among some of the most beautiful pieces of art in the world so it’s no surprise that many painters tend to gravitate towards painting with oils as a medium. If you’re new to painting with oils however you might be looking for some tips and guides that will help along the way before you create your first masterpiece and that’s where we come in!

Below you’ll find a selection of extremely useful tips, tricks and techniques that are designed to help those that are new to oil painting to pick up the necessary skills to create a work of art.

Essential Oil Painting Tips for Beginners

In this above video you’ll find accomplished oil painter Koorosh Angli from Angali.com giving out some incredible tips and advice on how to do oil painting for beginners. He covers things like pallets, paint pigments and all of the other essential equipment beginners should have before they being to work on their first oil painting.

A Guide to Brushes for Beginners

The above video walks beginners through all of the information you’ll need to know about choosing and using paint brushes for your oil paintings including information about bristle brushes, strokes, brush compositions and a lot more.

Painting With Oils Walkthrough for Beginners

This video covers a variety of topics ranging from equipment to techniques and also includes a walkthrough where you can see exactly how an oil painting is created as you watch the video creator paint a gorgeous field.

More tips and tricks for beginners…

Lay your oil paints onto your palette in the same order every time you paint so that after a while you’ll be able to pick up the color that you need straight instinctively and without even having to look.

Don’t use Ivory Black when sketching or underpainting as it dries much slower than other oil paints.

Be sure to use a larger amount of oil for the top layers of your painting because the lower layers will absorb oil from the above ones. If the layers on top dry faster than the bottom layers then they are at risk of cracking. This technique is known as painting ‘fat over lean’.

Use pigments that contain cobalt, lead and manganese to speed up the drying process.

Use linseed oil for the lower layers of any wet-on-dry painting since it will dry more thoroughly than any other oil.

Never dry your oil paintings in the dark as it can make a thin film of oil rise to the surface of the painting that will add a yellow tint to the painting.

You can use alcohol to clean off a layer of oil varnish or paint.

If you are unsure about a bottle of white spirits or mineral and want to know if it’s suitable for painting then drop a tiny amount of it on to a piece of paper and wait for it to evaporate. If it evaporates without leaving a stain, smell or residue then it’s fine to use.

If you’re finding a lot of wrinkles as the paint on the palette begins to dry then you have added too much oil.